For several weeks, torrential rains have been battering southern Mozambique, devastating homes and hospitals. More than half a million people, over half of them children, have been affected, with a death toll of 140.

The country is in a critical situation. Since December 2025, torrential rains have been ravaging the south and center of Mozambique, to the point of making the event one of the most serious ever recorded in the last twenty-five years in the southern African country, which is nevertheless accustomed to extreme climatic phenomena.

Nearly 700,000 people have been affected, the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement. And approximately 100,000 affected Mozambicans have found refuge in one of 99 temporary shelters, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Since October 1, nearly 140 people have lost their lives, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (INGD).

The equivalent of a year's rainfall in just a few days

"When I found myself trapped in the water, I wished for death because of the pain caused by the contractions and the situation I was in." At 17, Erica Raimundo Mimbir gave birth to her first child on January 19, right on a table in a classroom at the Ilha Josina primary school in Maputo province, Mozambique, after spending several days in her flooded home.

Between January 10 and 19, the provinces of Gaza and Maputo received 500 millimeters of rain, the equivalent of a year's worth of precipitation in just a few days. The once verdant landscapes are now submerged, turning roads into rivers and isolating thousands of people.

The waters rose rapidly, leaving families little time to prepare and forcing them to flee without essential belongings, including identity papers. Some children were separated from their families during their escape.

1,500 kilometers of roads swallowed up

This situation has resulted in numerous roads being submerged. Approximately 1,500 kilometers of roads are now impassable, leaving displaced families isolated and awaiting assistance, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). On the ground, the Mozambican government is leading relief operations and has established an emergency operations center in Gaza province, covering all affected provinces. Currently, 50 temporary shelters are housing more than 50,000 people, including approximately 38,000 in Gaza province.

On Saturday, January 17, the government requested assistance from the United Nations to obtain air resources to conduct rescue operations and transport humanitarian aid to hard-to-reach areas, as well as specialists in logistics, civil engineering, and disaster management.